MCW Class of 2012

[samenewme]

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Me again,

How do you current med students feel about your school? In hindsight, if you had choices, did you make the right one?

I have a real positive vibe going on about MCW, don't get me wrong, but I just wanted to know from people who actually are at MCW.

I guess i'm looking for answers to general atmosphere of the school, characteristics/personalities of the class, faculty/administration, and any other things you think a incoming student ought to know about the school.

Lastly, how about how "hard" med school is. I went through a pretty rigorous and competitive pre-med track at a supposedly difficult undergrad, so I'm wondering how ya'll feel about med school. It seems that different med schools have a different feel, aka some med students say their M1 year is not too hard, others say its hell. What say you?

Gracious!

Oh, and Kernal, if you're reading this, Hello, I think we may know each other soon!

I have always had the impression MCW goes to some effort to have nice people in its class, and I think that pays off. Nobody's perfect and there are a few jerks everywhere you go, but in general, it's a friendly, cooperative class and people help each other.

I've had to miss a few days of school here and there because of my father's illnesses, and although I haven't had to miss any exams, it's been a near thing. The administration and faculty have been very supportive about it, and the registrar has contacted all the relevant faculty for me (I also notify them myself when I have time, just because it's polite). On the other hand, if you're having a problem and you don't tell them early and get help, and you subsequently flunk or low-pass a couple of courses, they'll happily make you repeat the year, so don't push it! Fortunately my grades have been just fine.

You've probably heard this before, but the difference in med school is not the difficulty of the material, but the volume and speed. There's a lot of memorization and in many courses a lot less integration and figuring things out, and there's just SO MUCH. You will probably have to change your study style from what worked for you in undergrad, because the material is different, so prepare to be flexible. The vast majority of us have had to make an adjustment from being high academic achievers to being in the middle of that bell curve, because face it, everybody's smart in med school. I eventually decided to consider anywhere within a standard deviation of the mean score to be a quite satisfactory grade, because really, that's where I'm going to be.

Of course, SOMEBODY is at the head of the class, but don't torture yourself if that turns out not to be you. If it does turn out to be you, congratulations! Don't tell anybody about it. I want you to have friends.

 

[Ashers]

Too young??? I think I'm the same age as you? (That is assuming that you started med school right after undergrad). I used to watch the Power Team with that red dot guy with the green mohawk, bigfoot, and some barbarian guy. Does anyone remember that show?

Nope; I didn't start med school right after undergrad. I didn't even graduate in 4 years.

I used to watch that show, but not as much as He Man, Transformers, and GI Joe. (With some Rainbow Brite, My Little Ponies, Carebears, Popples, and Wuzzles thrown in.)

Maybe I'll answer LakerWildcat's post after I'm done with casefiles... way too long a post with too many questions for me right now. =)

 

[indo]

Me again,

How do you current med students feel about your school? In hindsight, if you had choices, did you make the right one?

I have a real positive vibe going on about MCW, don't get me wrong, but I just wanted to know from people who actually are at MCW.

I guess i'm looking for answers to general atmosphere of the school, characteristics/personalities of the class, faculty/administration, and any other things you think a incoming student ought to know about the school.

Lastly, how about how "hard" med school is. I went through a pretty rigorous and competitive pre-med track at a supposedly difficult undergrad, so I'm wondering how ya'll feel about med school. It seems that different med schools have a different feel, aka some med students say their M1 year is not too hard, others say its hell. What say you?

Gracious!

Oh, and Kernal, if you're reading this, Hello, I think we may know each other soon!

Well, if you are coming to MCW for the awesome PBL and TBL sessions you will be sorely disapointed. If you are coming because the people seemed pretty laid back then you'll be happy. The administration seems to be receptive to input for improvements.

Diversity is an interesting thing around here (and other med schools, I suspect). We have lots of colors and cultures but the majority of the people seem to come from families that fall into the 97th percentile for household income. You can't hold that against them but it doesn't do much for diversity unless you are just trying to have a multicultural picture for the MSAR and school website. This doesn't really matter...it is kind of just an artifact of how medicine and med school (and higher education in general) selects for certain things.

The people that will be in your class will be a pretty amazing bunch. They'll be high strung and anxious and insomniacs but they'll be fun mostly. Lots of runners, bikers, soccer players, rock climbers... You'll have fun.

The weather almost always sucks but the 3 weeks at the beginning of summer and fall are pretty nice.

School isn't really like math or engineering or physics. You won't run into any concepts that boggle the mind in 1st and 2nd year. Just tons of little details to know. But, after a while you get better at studying and better at taking tests. The only time you realize how miserable you are is when you talk to your old friends and they tell you about the house they bought and the money they're making then you end the conversation with, "well, I gotta get back to studying". What is weird is that some people will absolutely kill Biochemistry and then struggle with embryology or physiology (By struggle I mean low 90's, of course).

 

[45408]

We have lots of colors and cultures but the majority of the people seem to come from families that fall into the 97th percentile for household income.

Maybe not quite so rich - there's still plenty of well-used cars in the parking lot (my car was produced when I was a freshman in high school). Lots of the married-with-children classmates that I know are definitely pinching pennies. My dad's income is pretty decent, but he took care of that by having 8 children. The only money I get from my parents is the money that they borrowed from me and still owe me.

 

[Xandie]

My car was produced when you were ten. Power steering is for amateurs.

 

[indo]

Maybe not quite so rich - there's still plenty of well-used cars in the parking lot (my car was produced when I was a freshman in high school). Lots of the married-with-children classmates that I know are definitely pinching pennies. My dad's income is pretty decent, but he took care of that by having 8 children. The only money I get from my parents is the money that they borrowed from me and still owe me.

I don't really count the married folks though. They're on their own. I'm mostly thinking of the people that say things to each other like, "your parents aren't going to make you pay them back for tuition, are they?"



When I bought my first car at 15 it was one of the first fuel injected hondas. Haha. It did have power steering though. When I was little, we had a car with speakers that would only work while turning. oh...good times.

 

[Ashers]

I couldn't drive my first car since it was standard. I kinda learned how to drive standard last summer. I've probably forgotten by now.

Yellow 1973 VW Bug.

 

[Kernal83]

I couldn't drive my first car since it was standard. I kinda learned how to drive standard last summer. I've probably forgotten by now.

Yellow 1973 VW Bug.

My first car was a 1980 volkswagon vannegon... I'm always never sure on how to spell it. It was a standard, with a 2.5 foot long shift, with no power steering. It did have a stove and fridge in it though. Too bad it was too slow to go on the freeways or go up hills

 

[Ashers]

Me again,

How do you current med students feel about your school? In hindsight, if you had choices, did you make the right one?

I like MCW. The only year I've come close to regretting it was this year because of this stupid neverending winter. I got accepted to my state school (almost all PBL) in a location I don't like (stressful driving there). The good thing would've been I could've gone home on a lot weekends if the airfares were cheap.

Ok, regarding this stupid winter, I'm watching Groundhog Day on TV right now, and I'm pretty sure when Puxatawney Phil saw his shadow this year, the translator dudes misheard, and he actually said 6 more months of winter.

I have a real positive vibe going on about MCW, don't get me wrong, but I just wanted to know from people who actually are at MCW.

Most of the students, residents, faculty/attendings and nurses are great, good teachers, and willing to help. Of course there are the tools and evil people in all categories, but there aren't that many of them.

I guess i'm looking for answers to general atmosphere of the school, characteristics/personalities of the class, faculty/administration, and any other things you think a incoming student ought to know about the school.

The personality of your class isn't going to be predictable. Each year is completely different. Apparently the M3s are the class of specialties, the M2 are the whiners, and the M1s are the gunners.

The administration is generally helpful, you may notice more your third year that there's a lot of paper work that clogs up the system, but I've heard rumors of a new scheduling system.

Lastly, how about how "hard" med school is. I went through a pretty rigorous and competitive pre-med track at a supposedly difficult undergrad, so I'm wondering how ya'll feel about med school. It seems that different med schools have a different feel, aka some med students say their M1 year is not too hard, others say its hell. What say you?

Med school was way harder than I anticipated. My dad told me that it was going to be harder than anything I had ever done. Before my sister was in med school, she told my parents I was just whining and that med school wasn't that much work. However, as soon as she started school, she quit all the clubs she had joined and was freaking out due to the amount of work (she's one of the geniuses that never had to study ever).

I didn't have to study much in college, but I learned how to study in 7th - 10th grade at a college prep school, so I had to go back to study techniques from then. I tried cramming the first block of med school... didn't work.

M1 year wasn't too bad. 1st semester has a lot of time in the lab for anatomy. 2nd semester, I still went to every class, except I did all the CTB labs at home (since they're on the computer). So, I had more free time.

M2 year less free time, but studying in the library near friends made it more enjoyable because we all complained about how we were going to kill ourselves because of the workload.

 

[indo]

My first car was a 1980 volkswagon vannegon... I'm always never sure on how to spell it. It was a standard, with a 2.5 foot long shift, with no power steering. It did have a stove and fridge in it though. Too bad it was too slow to go on the freeways or go up hills

I have push started my fair share of this car. Once I was driving a bunch of drunkards home from a lake and the rear differential blew out. Ugg!!!! We had to call hillbilly towtruck guy...just like the guy on harold and kumar.

 

[45408]

I don't really count the married folks though. They're on their own. I'm mostly thinking of the people that say things to each other like, "your parents aren't going to make you pay them back for tuition, are they?"

You've actually heard that? Wow.

When I bought my first car at 15 it was one of the first fuel injected hondas. Haha. It did have power steering though. When I was little, we had a car with speakers that would only work while turning. oh...good times.

I always rode in a Volvo or a Dakota growing up. My dad had his work truck, and my mom had a Volvo. She drove an '85 until '95, when they got a new 940 wagon. She's driven it 170,000 miles since then, and it's still going pretty strong. I'm fairly surprised how little work it's needed.

 

[45408]

Med school was way harder than I anticipated.

I thought it would be as difficult as it is, but for different reasons. I thought I'd be studying a lot more than I do, but I didn't think studying would be nearly as hard. I used to think "Oh, study for 4-5 hours a day? I think I can do that on a consistent basis." Har har. Not "spend 4-5 hours at school" but "study for 4-5 hours" because there's a huge difference.

 

[Gimlet]

I don't really count the married folks though. They're on their own. I'm mostly thinking of the people that say things to each other like, "your parents aren't going to make you pay them back for tuition, are they?"

I only know of two people in my class whose parents are paying for tuition...at least, two that have advertised it.

 

[LakerWildcat]

Thanks all for the answers. It's actually making me more excited about getting to Milwaukee and starting school.

On a completely different subject, is it bad form to reveal to other SDNers who you are? I remember when facebook first started and friending random people, then realizing that I might meet them at some point and debating whether to say, hey I found you online.

 

[Xandie]

I don't think so... I'm a firm believer in making it clear. Then again, my real name is Xandie, so if I decided to hide, it would probably be very strange.

 

[Ashers]

Thanks all for the answers. It's actually making me more excited about getting to Milwaukee and starting school.

On a completely different subject, is it bad form to reveal to other SDNers who you are? I remember when facebook first started and friending random people, then realizing that I might meet them at some point and debating whether to say, hey I found you online.

Generally, we mostly know who one another is, though we TRY to refer to each other by our SNs.

I don't know a bunch of the M1s on here, and I've never met indo.

I have this thing with facebook (myspace too) where I don't like being friends with people I don't actually know, so if you were in that Class of 2012 group, I was in there answering questions, but then so many random people were trying to friend me, so I left.

 

[45408]

Thanks all for the answers. It's actually making me more excited about getting to Milwaukee and starting school.

On a completely different subject, is it bad form to reveal to other SDNers who you are? I remember when facebook first started and friending random people, then realizing that I might meet them at some point and debating whether to say, hey I found you online.

Well, Agent Splat and I have an agreement in which we don't speak to each other, but we both know exactly who the other one is. 😀 That's kind of a joke though. Gimlet and I have never spoken either, but that's just because no one has broken the ice, I guess...

I see samenewme all the time, and I run into DoctorFunk, Ashers, indo, akpete, donnyfire, Tiger26 and some other names you probably wouldn't recognize fairly often. I've also met Xandie, yeasterbunny, Ibn Sina, pratik7 and some others.

 

[indo]

I saw Dr. Splat getting into his car in front of the escuela a day or two ago. Splat, do you have the all wheel drive? How does it do in the snow?

 

[akpete]

Not much to add to the excellent responses about why MCW is great.


And I can think of a couple people off the top of my head who don't have loans.

 

[Agent Splat]

I saw Dr. Splat getting into his car in front of the escuela a day or two ago. Splat, do you have the all wheel drive? How does it do in the snow?

I thought that was you, actually.

To answer your questions: no. terrible. at the end of this summer I'm getting set of tires #3 (plus I should be over 100K miles on it by then). If I hadn't learned to brake without anti-lock brakes, I'd be dead by now. My first car had them, this one doesn't.

 

[45408]

How does it do in the snow?

Oh, you don't remember that, uh, incident with the light pole jumping out at him?

 

[Agent Splat]

Oh, you don't remember that, uh, incident with the light pole jumping out at him?

it wasn't so much as a jump as it was a fast yet subtle and unexpected step out in front of me.

 

[ecca58]

Hello again~. It's been a while since I last posted. 😉

For the upperclassmen, when did you realize/decide what specialty was right for you? Did you have a hunch before going to med school? Did you change your mind during third year? Or did you even change your mind during fourth year?

I'm just curious.

 

[Ashers]

Hello again~. It's been a while since I last posted. 😉

For the upperclassmen, when did you realize/decide what specialty was right for you? Did you have a hunch before going to med school? Did you change your mind during third year? Or did you even change your mind during fourth year?

I'm just curious.

I had a list of interests that I narrowed down quickly with ortho always being at the top.

 

[yeasterbunny]

Hello again~. It's been a while since I last posted. 😉

For the upperclassmen, when did you realize/decide what specialty was right for you? Did you have a hunch before going to med school? Did you change your mind during third year? Or did you even change your mind during fourth year?

I'm just curious.

You will hear the following a million times: "Don't worry about picking a specialty until you are most of the way through your 3rd year and you actually have a good idea what you like doing."

The advice makes total sense for a lot of reasons, and is probably good advice for the majority of students. Even after most of my 3rd year rotations I doubt I really would know what I was getting into in any of those fields.

I, for one, wish I had known what I would be going into earlier so I could have gotten started on some good research and beefing up of my CV sooner than 75% of the way through my 3rd year. But I still matched. If you want to try for one of the competetive specialties though, it will facilitate things if you get started early. And if you change your mind 3rd year you can always back out and do something easier to match into (but of course the converse is not true).

 

[Gimlet]

Pretty much knew what I wanted to go in to since I got accepted to med school, but I tried to keep an open mind through the first three years. Every rotation has been confirming that I'm making the right choice.

Once you've started school, I would advise doing some shadowing your first year in a few specialties that interest you. That helped me rule out EM real quick once I realized that I didn't like it AT ALL. Like Yeasterbunny said, the more you have it narrowed down by that first summer, the more time you have to set up research or get more exposure in a field that you think you might go into.

 

[akpete]

applied to med school for the sole purpose of going into ortho. started to consider anesthesia during 2nd year. stuck with ortho until a couple months ago started thinking about anesthesia again. in the midst of trying to decide, but thisclose to committing to anesthesia.

don't be afraid to change your mind. it's freaking me out a bit, but it shouldn't.

 

[Ashers]

So sad, akpete. =(

So how many people in the class want to go into gas now? Lesley Mack was saying that she's amazed with how many people are doing ophtho. Then there's all the ortho people, rads, ENT

I think that leaves like 3 FP (since Marty now wants to do it AND stay in the Midwest), no medicine, and 1 peds.

 

[akpete]

aw, there's a few peds on my track. 0 medicine, 3-4 anesthesia, a bunch of surgery and surgery sub-specialties. 1 considering path. couple EM.


we are the class of specialization, procedures, and peds.

 

[Ashers]

aw, there's a few peds on my track. 0 medicine, 3-4 anesthesia, a bunch of surgery and surgery sub-specialties. 1 considering path. couple EM.


we are the class of specialization, procedures, and peds.

Oh yeah, path, there's 2 on my track. 2 of the ophtho are on my track. No one's for medicine, lots of ortho, anesthesia, rads, a few FP, peds, surg, and EM.

I'm hoping this is not a nationwide trend.

 

[Xandie]

Our class had a crapload of rads and gas. The numbers may shift a little bit, but I'd wager the numbers pretty much stay the same, within standard error.

 

[Gimlet]

We're on target for 25+ anesthesiologists in our class.

 

[45408]

So sad, akpete. =(

So how many people in the class want to go into gas now? Lesley Mack was saying that she's amazed with how many people are doing ophtho. Then there's all the ortho people, rads, ENT

I think that leaves like 3 FP (since Marty now wants to do it AND stay in the Midwest), no medicine, and 1 peds.

Joe B says he wants to do FP.

 

[indo]

we're going to have a lot of surgeons...but this is before clerkships. The ortho crowd is well represented.

 

[Ashers]

We're on target for 25+ anesthesiologists in our class.

After one peds class someone and I were taking inventory of how many specialties vs primary care for our class, we're figuring ~30% primary care, but I didn't know there were that many for gas.

If all of us get our specialties next year, imagine all the hub-bub over in pre-allo after the match when all the match lists get posted.

 

[Agent Splat]

we seem to have a ton of EM in 2009 also...several I've talked to were also considering something else like rads, but many are very gung-ho. A few people I hadn't expected, too.

 

[45408]

we're going to have a lot of surgeons...but this is before clerkships. The ortho crowd is well represented.

I can't think of anybody gunning for ortho...

 

[samenewme]

I can't think of anybody gunning for ortho...

I think one of my neighbors is.

 

[DoctorFunk]

we seem to have a ton of EM in 2009 also...several I've talked to were also considering something else like rads, but many are very gung-ho. A few people I hadn't expected, too.

I'm telling you, EM is going to be one of the big lifestyle specialties in coming years until the salaries drift under 200K. I still think burnout could be a problem, what with emergency rooms being nothing more than glorified primary care offices for 90% of the patients visiting them.

 

[BamBoozed]

ahh!!! i dont' even wanna think about that stuffyet!!!! what if i wanna do surgery but not work all the time or something??? i don't even know!!!!

 

[45408]

what with emergency rooms being nothing more than glorified primary care offices for 90% of the patients visiting them.

hence my questions to you about peds EM

 

[Agent Splat]

hence my questions to you about peds EM

yeah, Peds EM isn't any different. just fewer drug seekers.

 

[Agent Splat]

I'm telling you, EM is going to be one of the big lifestyle specialties in coming years until the salaries drift under 200K. I still think burnout could be a problem, what with emergency rooms being nothing more than glorified primary care offices for 90% of the patients visiting them.

good thing I won't be in medicine anymore in about 20 years.

 

[Ashers]

yeah, Peds EM isn't any different. just fewer drug seekers.

I would've sworn there was a drug seeking 8yo on the OSCE today.

 

[Agent Splat]

I would've sworn there was a drug seeking 8yo on the OSCE today.

i remember that kid. gave him demerol. lots of it.

 

[DoctorFunk]

good thing I won't be in medicine anymore in about 20 years.

Might want to rethink that, Pr0n isn't quite the sure-thing that it was back in the 80's, now that camwhores and celebrities do it for free on the internet for all to see.

 

[Agent Splat]

Might want to rethink that, Pr0n isn't quite the sure-thing that it was back in the 80's, now that camwhores and celebrities do it for free on the internet for all to see.

you're forgetting my other specialty: homemade lampshades and other fineries.

 

[Kernal83]

I'm hoping to pay off medical school once my calendar (Men of the OR) starts selling like hot cakes

 

[DoctorFunk]

I'm hoping to pay off medical school once my calendar (Men of the OR) starts selling like hot cakes

That will only work out if you design your calendar complete with soundbytes of ridiculously immature tantrums and sexual innuendo. Girls are only attracted to surgeons because they're the grown-up version of the jerk boyfriend in high school with the Harley, leather jacket, and rumored history of domestic violence.

Now, if we talk about women? They're all about a man with a little stability who can take care of a family. That's why my calendar (Men of the NICU) is going to make bank.

 

[akpete]

dear lord